The lead federal prosecutor investigating former CIA director John Brennan has stepped away from the case following concerns she raised about it, marking a notable shift in a politically charged inquiry.
Maria Medetis Long, the chief of the national security division in the US attorney's office for the southern district of Florida, informed attorneys involved that she would no longer be handling the investigation, CNN reported. Long is a career attorney with the Department of Justice.
The probe centers on the intelligence community's 2016 assessment that Russia sought to interfere in the presidential election to boost Donald Trump. Trump and his allies have repeatedly attacked that conclusion as politically motivated.
The timing of Long's departure signals fresh turbulence within a Justice Department navigating competing pressures. Jason Reding Quiñones, the US attorney for the southern district of Florida, has indicated to department officials that an indictment could come soon, according to the New York Times.
The shift also reflects broader staffing moves at DOJ headquarters. A former aide to Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, recently transferred from Washington to the southern district of Florida and is now involved in the Brennan matter, Bloomberg Law reported. Blanche is competing for permanent confirmation as attorney general, with reports suggesting Trump views his performance in the acting role as an audition for the job.
The prosecutor departures echo a pattern from earlier investigations. When Trump sought to pursue charges against New York attorney general Letitia James last year, career prosecutors in Virginia similarly expressed reservations and were subsequently fired from the department.
The Justice Department declined to comment on Long's exit from the case.
Author James Rodriguez: "Long's pullback signals internal friction over whether this investigation can withstand legal scrutiny, and her departure suggests someone in the building still thinks standards matter."
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